Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Still no baby! I guess he didn't want to win the race because I have a new cousin (see picture) Maxwell Bradford Allen Neal was born on Monday & is doing well... He is in NICU to help with breathing but is getting stronger & is maintaining temp & weight. & My friend goes in @ 2am tonight to have her little girl Lola... We are dog sitting their cute little chihuahua Princess...

Lukas will be here hopefully (cross your fingers) by Friday afternoon at the latest... I should have known... our kids like to come Fridays... Brok came on Friday, Luke will too... I am nervous, anxious & excited all rolled into one... I can't wait to meet hime but am nervous to be away from Brok that long & about how fast it'll go... & anxious to get it over with... It's just gunna be me & Kevin... This week is CRAZY busy for my family, my youngest brother's first football game @ home, my sister has homecoming & thier car keeps dying (hmmm... must run in the family) so they won't be coming for a few weeks... Kevin's parents may come but more than likely not...

Other than that, we decorated for Halloween (it's like a thing with KEvin's family... They go all out, especially his sister & brother-in-law, & we have the perfect front yeard for it! We have this little rock flower bed thing we turned into a graveyard & are still working on the grass... but it's turned out well so far! We are also replacing our clutch now in the car... Yipee... but by now everything should run well & should be 100% new so we basically bought a new car... Let's hope... $4000 into it, not including tires, tune-up and all the oil we have had to replace the past month as well as rental cars & car payments/insurance... Isn't life wonderful!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Sooooo... This little story starts around 620am on Thursday the 25th of Sept.

Kevin left for work around 545am & right away Brok was up. He was in a bad mood & I didn't have the patience to deal with him... But I fed him some cheerios and milk & he seemed content... Around 618am I started feeling very crampy & uncomfortable... So I decided to try to time my contractions. Now I wasn't sure they were all contractions but they would start in my lower back & slowly go to the front around the bottom and up to the top before they would subside... I did it for an hour while playing tetris & they were pretty regular, between 5-7min each... I didn't want to get my hopes up so I timed for another hour... still regular... I let Kevin know what was going on & he said go get monitored but since I have Brok, I kinda couldn't go alone. So I monitor for around another hour, they aren't getting closer together but are strong & definately 5-7min apart. So he comes home & we go get monitored. They watch me for an hour an a half and sure enough they are regular... BUT I am only to a 1 & my cervix is only halfway forward... Soooo I get sent home to walk around the mall, eat and rest til they are 3min apart or my water breaks... So we go out to the mall & I get some Jason's Deli (MMMM Delicious!) but while I am inside ordering, Kevin decides to check the oil... Dipstick handle comes off in his hand... so he's thinking Great... He goes to start up the car again & it sounds like it's going to keel over. We decided to head back home to the mechanic & have them check AGAIN for an issue... They think oil pump but looked up on this mechanic site where companies post bulletins about their vehicles & come to find out...

Hyundai needs a special oil filter!!!!!

In most vehicles, when you turn on the car, it automatically sprays oil into the top of the engine to lubricate... Hyundai doesn't... their oil filter has a check valve that holds the oil in the top of the engine to have constant lubrication... Therefore, if you don't have that filter, everytime you start the vehicle, you are damaging it... So all these months of regular maintenence & it's actually damaging the engine...

So we call our warranty company & ask about the oil pump & they cover it so we decided just to take it to the dealership... However, we had to leave it there... So here I am in early labor wihtout a car...

Then yesterday they call & say that because the oil pump was indeed bad, it had damaged the lower part of the engine so our warranty company had to pay for that... 26hr job (meaning 2-3 days of labor, & if someone doesn't have the engine, shipping time) Luckily they cover a rental car as well...

So while we are waiting to get the approval for a rental car, I decide I want Taco Bell... Its 2.17mi from my house to there so I think, Ok, I will walk... It's 1230 in the afternoon but I walked Brok & I to Taco Bell & ate lunch... That wasn't too bad... Then I had to walk back, facing the sun, listening to a child scream because he has to have his blanket on him & won't keep it from blocking the sun... I barely made it inside... Then we find out we need one more reciept for an oil change so we call all the places we can think of where we got it changed & found the reciept then faxed it in... Hallelujah we have a rental car...

So I am still contracting regular 4-5min apart & I decide to go to bed... I slept awful! I woke up at 530 feeling tons of tightness & sick to my stomach... I have now been measuring contractions for an hour & they are getting closer together... YAY! We may have a baby before the weekend is over!

My aunt & one of our close friends are also scheduled for this week to have their babies so now it's a race... & appartenly Lukas doesn't wanna win!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

We officially are schedule for an induction to begin at midnight on Thursday Oct 2nd. Hopefully he comes sooner but now I can say only a week or however many days! YAY!!!! It was going to be this coming SUnday because they moved up my due date a few days but the hospital said it wasn't enough to matter so I get to wait :(

He is at a 0 station (that means he is halfway to down all the way) but my cervix is still backwards so until that changes, chances are he won't be coming until they start me...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I swear he just likes to torture me! I go back to the doc tomorrow & I guess unless he decides to make an appearance soon, I will be scheduled for sometime around the 3rd of Oct (which my sister is going to LOVE because the 4th is homecoming & she got asked) I really think he is just intent on keeping me in pain! I know I was anxious with Brok but this is really riduculous! I keep waking up going "Today's the day"then of course it's not & then I have to think "less than 2 weeks, less than 2 weeks" but that doesn't help any because I get more impatient that time doesn't go faster! ARGH!

My aunt is having her baby next Monday via c-section (he is all the way up under her ribs in the transverse (side to side) position) and I want him to have his own birthday but I know he is going to come on somone's birthday!

As far as contractions go, they seem to be regular & they definately hurt but not enough that I can't sleep at night... Which is frustrating!

I just want to pop him out already! I am tired of waiting to meet him! Brok & I want him to come play NOW!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

So I woke up this morning around 5-515 to get Kevin's lunch made & couldn't hardly move or walk. I had serious pain in my pelvic area & I felt really sick to my stomach. I made it down the stairs and got Kevin's lunch made but I was still feeling some serious pains. I didn't sleep well last night because I was so uncomfortable so I finally broke down & called the doctor & he told me just to go to Labor & Delivery to be monitored & checked because it could be a numerous list of things including labor, bladder infections, pressure from the baby, you name it...So we get all packed up (Brok was awake thank goodness) and go to the hospital. They hook me up to the monitors and I lay there in pain for about half hour... Nothing exciting going on... little tiny contractions every once in a while but nothing too major... & I was only @ 1cm so they send me home on bed rest (how am I supposed to be on bedrest with an 18mo old?!) and said to go to my reg appt with my doc... which was this afternoon... So I tried to get some rest, luckily Kevin's work said stay home, take care of her... I went to my doc still in serious pain & he just said there's not much he can do but that I am more than likely going to have him soon... He couldn't find his head because he is so far down (he had to measure from my bone to the top of my uterus) and he said the longest I will go is Oct 3rd... IF I make it to next week, he can then schedule my induction (let's hope I go sooner, 2 wks is too long!) But he isn't sure I will make it that long...

Monday, September 15, 2008

So randomly last Wednesday after a rough day of therapy & Brok not working well with them, I was sitting on the couch eating dinner or somehting & I heard him grab the cheeto bag off the couch, I didn't Think anything other than getting it away before he dumped them out but when I looked....

HE WAS STANDING AT THE COUCH!!!!

All it took was a bag of Cheetos to get him to pull himself up! I thought it was just a fluke that he wouldn't do it again so I pu them back on the couch & what do you know, again!!!! WOOOHOOOO

I didn't want to get my hopes up so I thought I would keep it to myself but... since that day, He has been pulling up on EVERYTHING! including a 6in off the ground tote bucket (which he got stuck because it wasn't tall enough to let go & fall) the couch, the bed, the tub, you name it, he pulls up! & the thing is, I don't think it's even from the therapy! I think he is finally realizing he can do things! The only thing is that sometimes he forgets that he can just fall back onto his butt & get down so he will scream til we figure out that is the issue. He also can't figure out how to grab something off the couch & fall to eat it... For instance, animal cookies, he wanted them soooo bad & when he got up to get them, he didn't want to let go but wanted to eat them! He's funny!

But YAY for Brok! We might be getting somewhere! I'll try to get a picture up soon!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Our car is still broken :( After we took it in to them last week due to it dying on me when I would press the clutch & brake together & they cleaned the throttle body, it was still making a strange noise. When you hit 2500-3000 rpms it would sort of knock like something was hitting something else. Kevin's first thought was a rod which is really bad... So back I went to the mechanic (it's pretty pathetic when you walk in & they know your name) and they heard the noise & figured out it was pulleys that should have been replaced when the original issue, the timing belt, was done. Because when you replace a timing belt you have to figure that they pulleys have the same amount of miles on them as the timing belt so the bearings can go bad. Soooo.... I called the dealership to make sure that they hadn't replaced them (if they had & were just bad parts, they would have had to fix it free) but htey only had replaced the timing belt. Therefore we had to fork out another $650 for the pulleys & the tensioners to be replaced. So they fixed that & had no noise until of course Kevin goes to pick up the car & he still hears it. When we go back to get his motorcycle, he tells the guy @ the front about the noise, he hears it & says bring it in tomorrow morning... So once again, back to the mechanic I go once again today... It's around 1030 or 11 when I get there because I figured I had better go to the store before because who knows what the issue is. They all go out there (picture 4 or 5 guys standing around our car revving the engine) and listen for the noise which I can hear from inside. No one can figure anything out but that one of the parts they replaced came to them bad. So they take off the top & bottom cover of the engine, watch the pulleys & sure enough they are loose again. So they take off all the other belts around & watch just that one to be sure. Very little noise... But they notice the front cam (or rear) is wobbly. So he lets me know that they are going to take apart the cam to see why it's wobbling. (by now its' been at least an hour if not more) Once they do that, he brings me in the cam shaft cap & shows me how it is scored on the part that the shaft goes through, not a good thing, that generally means the shaft is bent. & since it is bent, it is causing the wobbling which made the pulleys loose which made the belt flap & cause that noise. So now we have to replace the cam shafts & caps but you can't get the caps from Hyundai so they are having to get a whole new head (which we just had fixed so ours is perfect) so now it's a treasure hunt. Find the cheapest head for our car & win the prize...

Sounds like fun huh? & all because the stupid timing belt broke. There is no way of knowing whether or not the actual belt broke due to malfunctioning pulleys & that could have caused the problems or if it just broke or what. & the most stupidest part of it all is that the only thing covered under our warranty is the pulleys... & who knows if they will really reimburse us because it wasn't done @ the issuing dealership because I didn't know this til this morning AFTER I HAD GOTTEN IT FIXED. I guess it's better than nothing but it is so frustrating.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

So the past week or so, I have been having contractions... But the thing is that they aren't regular enough to do anything about them other than wait them out... But they are so strong! SometimesI feel like just going to the hospital to get some pain med cause I can't do anything to relax my muscles! I asked the doc aobut it & they said "oh it's just braxton hicks" or "you're just practicing" but really? My mom said everything is more pronounced the second time around because your body already knows what it's doing but I am seriously not sure my body knows! LOL. I just feel so uncomfortable & can't relax! It's hard too because sometimes I feel awesome so I start a project or go out of the house, they hit so strong all the sudden I can't hardly finish what I am doing! Has any other mom had this issue before? He can come out anytime really & I am sure he's fine since the doctor guestimated he's already close to 8lbs if not yet (he told me he is between 7-8lbs based on my history of babies & my size & that if hemakes it to @ least 36wks he will be totally ok) so I am ready for it but it's not happening & I am in a lot of pain!

I tried with Brok the castor oil, walking, sex, you name it but with this one, I havne't done any of them becasue I don't want him to come too early and don't want some of the same problems I had with Brok!!!!

Friday, September 5, 2008

So I guess Brok finally figured out that he is a big boy because every time I walk into his room now after nap, in the morning or last night even after I put him down for bed, He is sitting up in his crib!We put him in a "time-out" if you will becasue he just kept freaking out last night & he ended up falling asleep. I had laid him on his back because it was around afternoon/evening nap time so I was somewhat hopeing he'd fall asleep, which he did, so at around 7 or 8 I went in to get him up for an hour & he was sat up in his bed, sleeping! He is such a goof! But I guess at least he is learning something! He had figured out how to sit up himself a while ago but this time around, he figured out it's easier from belly to sit himself up.

His new favorite word is Mum, trying to say more & mom together to get something to eat...What a nut!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

& I know other moms with younger kids will think how lame but for the first time EVER

I walked in to get Brok up from his nap (well he didn't really sleep but played) & he was SITTING IN HIS CRIB TYRING TO PULL HIMSELF UP!

Ok so he's a little behind but for me that is super exciting because it shows progression! We have been doing therapy for a long while & even though I see some progression, nothing too encouraging as far as walking or standing so this is AWESOME!

******I had a few people ask why he can't do the normal things... There have been so many reasons I have been given, but the 3 biggest things are autism, cerebral palsy & hypertonia.

His intial diagnosis is hypertonia, that means his muscles have too much tone & his joints don't know how to work right, I imagine something like arthritis? It's because since birth he has had something flexed, whether it be standing with his toes pointed when we'd hold him or etc. He was a very fast learner when it came to holding his head up & rolling over, but from there, it was slow go. His muscles are just very tight.

The reason for the other 2 is that I guess just he's delayed... The cerebral palsy has only been said by his physical therapist & while it freaks me out, If you look up the literal definition, it means brain paralysis. Basically, the part of his brain that is sending the signals doesn't connect with the actual muscle. For us, it is normal to think something & automatically do it but for him, he knows his brain is saying lift this leg, push up, etc but it's not connecting to his muscles. Nothing has been officially diagnosed there, but I can see where he would get that idea. The autism, I really don't see anything except his being delayed in mobility. He is super smart, he will look at you & make eye contact, he is learning new words & signs everyday (just started with putting his arms up & saying uh, uh) and is very social with us. The reason they say that it could be autism is that he does this stimulation thing with his hands & he can't walk... though again really the only time we hear it is with his physical therapist...

I don't really know what it is or why he is like htat, I know he has a very stubborn personality which contributes a lot but other than that, he is just my special little Brok & we love him no matter his problems!

My Babies Birthdays!

Kevin & Ashley Beal

About Me

We have been married 4 years & currently live outside Phoenix, AZ with our cute little Bubba & our sweet little. Kevin is Serving in the Air Force as an F-16 crew Chief & Ashley stays home with Brok & Lukas runs her own business!